The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1887-08-24
Communicated.
A NEW ERA.


the introduction of the printing press with.
in our midst is sufficient proof that new,
intellectual and elevating era in prison
discipline and management hath dawned,
and each and every one of us should re.
member with gratitude the day the little
MIRROR cast its first reflection upon us.
for through its miniature columns we are
enabled to commune with good people IN
the outer world We also are enabled to
reach out a helping hand towards one
another; let the words we utter through its
tiny columns be heartfelt and sincere. let
them be noble words fifty spoken. that they
ter, that shall leave behind him an inflll.
ence for good when his days of prison life
shall be no more; let your every action be-
speak the 1uthfulness and earnestness of
your words. Let us grasp with the firm
tenacity of manhood and honor the OppOr-
tunitieS Of self-improvement now presented
to us not self-imprOvement alone but I'M
iversal Improvement as we'll; be cheerful,
kind and thoughtful. and let your motto be
''Help we, one another" The MIRROR is
not numbered alone in the birth of this
new era' in our midst; we have to-day one
of the most select libraries in the State, not
Il lot of blood and thunder trash. but
works of the most eminent and gifted all-
thors, to which we have free and daily ac-
cess. We have service. of song, lectures
and excellent Sunday sermons in our prison
chapel, which none of us should fail to
hear and commit to memory. We are soon
to have school where all may, who will,
embrace the opportunity for intellectual I'M
prOvement, and thus strengthen our moral
and mental faculties to such an extent that
we SHALL in spite of fate, become intelligent,
truthful and useful men.
1t IS matter of great importance, not
only to ourselves, but humanity at large,
and especially those loved ones whom we
represent beyond the confines of our pres
ent abiding place; who are ready and will
ing to hold out to us a friendly and helping
hand if they see that we are earnestly in
clined to help ourselves. Let us then. in
if it is noble to turn from a life of shame
and crime. and climb upward towards a
higher and nObler sphere of life. then those
who do so are noble men regardless of the
clothes they wear or the community in
which they abide. If it is heroic, in spite
of Our faults and frailites and present sur
rOundings, to emerge, as it were, from the
darkness of ignorance and vice into the
luminous pantheon of knowledge and love
by our own choice and efforts, then those
who do SO are heroes. We should remem-
Der also, that beyond this life there is
shining in the infinite abysses eternal wit
nesses of all our noble and ignobe endea-
YOURS.
While here. let each and every one of us
try to make each day as pleasant as posi-
BILE, speak to. and treat with gentemanly
civility and respect all those with whom
we have to do. DO not cover with the
leprOsy of SANDER the character of another;
be cheerful. kind and accommodating to all:
cheerfullness and intelligence may be had
for the seeking; seek them with will. and
the sooner will be made manifest to us that,
we cannot steal without rObbing ourselves;
that we cannot drink without drowning;
that we cannot commit any crime or wrong,
without assassinating our own peace and
joy. Let lis help one another, let us hope
that the world is growing better day by
day: that the wall of want and suffering
will not be forever heard, and that the
prison wall and gallows will not forever
curse the earth, and that the new era of
prison life so lately introduced within our
L.